


The greatest gift and honour

by silvermoongirl10



Series: The difference between victory and defeat [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Adopting a Baby, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives are Twins, Family, Gen, Mentioned CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29048016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: Echo is on a relief mission with Reeft and his new Padawan, when he comes across a baby girl in need of a home. He falls for the little bundle and decides then and there to adopt her. The only thing is he kind of forgot to tell Fives he was going to be an Uncle.(Set 2 years after the Clone Wars.)
Relationships: CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives, CT-21-0408 | CT-1409 | Echo & Original Child Character(s), CT-27-5555 | ARC-5555 | Fives & Original Child Character(s)
Series: The difference between victory and defeat [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065761
Comments: 11
Kudos: 23





	The greatest gift and honour

**Author's Note:**

> I totally forgot to mention that the clone's advanced aging was reserved a few months after the war by Obi-Wan's friend Healer Bant. I forgot to mention this because I talked about it in my codywan series and so thought I had also mentioned it in this series.
> 
> This fic does time skip around, so I hope that’s not too distracting, I just wanted to move the plot along.

Echo was stood in the Temple hanger and smiled as he watched as Reeft’s new Padawan, eleven-year-old Theelin Rem Birlel, with her short bright red hair and lavender coloured skin standing out starkly in the grey metal hanger. They were going on a relief mission to the Outer-Rim planet Dalna after a waterfall had collapsed and a surge of water had flooded a town. It was Rem’s fourth mission and Echo could see she was nervous, she had been asking him and Reeft many questions about helping the humans, Pantorans and Trandoshans who lived on the planet. But Echo knew she would do just fine, the questions she was asking showed how deeply Rem cared and caring what was needed on a relief mission.

It had been two years since the end of the Clone Wars and almost two years since Echo partnered up with Reeft. They had become close friends and watched each other’s backs numerous times. Rem joining their team didn’t really change the dynamic, in fact it enhanced it. Echo enjoyed spending time with the young Padawan, whose blue eyes were always wide in wonder as she took in the sights of a galaxy, she had not yet been able to see before. Echo had at first worried about his role with Rem. Should he step back and leave her to Reeft? Or should he offer to help train her? In the end he had followed the example Cody set out with Obi-Wan’s Padawan of one year, Ranna. Cody taught her useful skills such as hand signals and how to use a blaster, something that Obi-Wan had called uncivilised. However, it was something that actually turned out helpful as Ranna had taken out some slavers who had taken her and Obi-Wan’s lightsabers. So, Echo was basically Reeft’s assistant teacher, something he really enjoyed.

“How’s the kid shaping up?” Echo smiled as he turned to face Fives. Over the past two years Fives had relaxed and wasn’t so worried about him going off on missions anymore, even when he came back with mild injuries. Even though Fives had relaxed, he still made a point to see Echo off on his missions and be in the hanger when he got back. Something that Echo knew he would miss if Fives stopped.

“Really good. Rem’s a bit nervous about this mission but I know she’ll be fine,” replied Echo. Fives nodded and then waved at Reeft and Rem before the pair disappeared into the ship.

“See you later Fives!” called Rem over her shoulder. Causing Fives to chuckle in amusement.

“She’s a good kid, of course she’ll be fine,” nodded Fives, he then bumped his shoulder against Echo’s, causing Echo to wince slightly as he wasn’t wearing his armour for this misison. “So, how long do you think you’ll be gone this time?”

Echo shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on how effective the Dalna rescue teams are and if they’ll need us to support them long-term. But from what Reeft and the Council has said, we should only be there short-term. So, maybe a couple of weeks. But don’t be surprised if we end up staying longer.”

Fives nodded, a considering look on his face. “Well, just remind yourself and Reeft that if you need extra help don’t forget to contact the Temple this time.” He said with a raised eyebrow. Echo laughed in response, remembering a relief mission he and Reeft went on last year. They were so overwhelmed wanting to help everyone that they forgot they could ask for extra resources from the Temple. Anakin and Rex had been finishing up a mission on a nearby planet and dropped by to see if they could help and had found Echo and Reeft almost asleep on their feet.

“After the earful we got off Anakin and Rex about looking after ourselves I don’t think we’ll forget that detail in any hurry,” chuckled Echo as he rubbed the back of his head, his fingers catching on the short curls in his hair.

“See that you don’t,” commented Fives seriously as he nudged Echo. Seeing that the relief supplies were all loaded onto the ship, Fives turned and gave Echo his customary goodbye hug. “Now take care of yourself,” he added while he clapped Echo on the back.

“Will do,” replied Echo, he then picked up his kit bag and started to walk up the ramp of the ship. He called out to Reeft that everything was on board, he then went to take a seat in the cockpit with Reeft and Rem while pre-take off checks were done. Once they lifted up into the air and after a few minutes they had cleared Coruscant traffic and were speeding through hyperspace. As Echo leaned back in his chair, he wondered what was going to meet them on Dalna.

* * *

They had been on Dalna for two days and Echo was relieved to see that the rescue teams mostly had things under control. They just mainly needed the supplies they had brought from the Temple and Reeft’s use of the Force came in handy by lifting massive rocks away from roads and helping to find injured beings in their destroyed homes. He looked at the town with sadness, after a heavy rainstorm, parts of the waterfall next to the town had broken away and a surge of flood water had hit the town, rocks and water destroyed houses. With an unspoken agreement, Reeft and Echo had kept Rem away from the most hard-hit houses, not wanting her to see any of the dead victims. Instead, they tasked her with helping give out food supplies and comfort lost children. Rem knew what they were doing, but Echo was relieved that the Padawan didn’t fight them on her role. Instead, she took to her role seriously and brought comfort to many of the beings she came into contact with.

As he trudged through the mud and water on the side of town nearest the waterfall, he just shook his head. During the war he had witnessed the destruction war could bring to innocent people and it shocked him how equally destructive nature could be. He was pulled from his thoughts at the shrill cry from a baby. Turning to his left he watched as a young woman was trying to soothe the baby by rocking it and humming to it. Echo walked closer and saw the desperation on the woman’s face, obviously the baby had been crying for some time.

“Excuse me, would you like some help with your baby?” he asked the woman as he came to stand beside her. She turned desperate green eyes to him and nodded so hard he thought her neck would snap. He took the baby with a smile and rested the small bundle against his chest. “Hello little one,” he cooed, gently rocking the baby up and down. “Does your baby have a name?”

The woman shook her head, “she isn’t my baby. She was a new-born dropped off at the orphanage where I work just before the flood. She was abandoned and for two days she has been inconsolable.”

Echo looked down at the small face and felt a pang of sadness, thinking she had been unwanted by her family. Or perhaps, he corrected himself, her family could not afford to look after her. He smiled, the girl’s head was covered by a thin layer of pure black hair, that was just starting to curl and wide blue eyes, going by their colour he thought would change and her tanned skin tone almost matched his own perfectly. Slowly the baby girl’s cries petered out and soon she was curled against his chest, snuffling quietly as she drifted into sleep. “What will happen to her?” he asked quietly, smiling at the woman’s relief of the baby no longer crying.

“Once we have found a safe temporary place for the orphanage, she’ll be taken care of there until someone wants to adopt her. Or until she ages out of the system,” replied the woman. While her words were to the point, Echo heard the unsaid grief in the woman’s voice, she clearly hated the thought of any child living their childhood at the orphanage. And Echo agreed, he hadn’t been able to have an ordinary childhood and hated the thought of any child growing up without a loving family surrounding them.

So, as he looked down at the little face that buried into his chest, Echo felt himself fall for her and knew he was about to do something that was normally Fives’s territory. Act impulsively.

“What will it take for me to adopt her?” he asked, looking up at the woman. Whose face for a moment was one of perfect shock, then the shock faded away and what was left was a big grin. A grin that took away the exhaustion on her face and left her looking years younger.

“You want to adopt her?” she checked, almost bouncing on her feet.

“Yes,” replied Echo firmly.

“Follow me!” directed the woman, she walked around Echo and began leading him towards a tent where thirty children were gathered. There he spotted both Rem and Reeft handing out supplies, both of them looking up at Echo and smiling at him when they noticed the baby. When they over heard the woman asking to start the adoption process, Reeft’s eyes widened and stepped between the children to come and stand in front of Echo and the baby.

“Echo. Are you doing what I think you’re doing?” asked Reeft, his expression unreadable.

“Well…if you think I’m going to adopt this baby girl then yes,” replied Echo hesitantly. Not sure what Reeft would think about him just suddenly deciding to adopt a baby. But he did, he really wanted to adopt her. The longer she was in his arms, the more reluctant he was to put her down.

Reeft then just grinned at him and brought him in for a gentle side-hug, being careful of the sleeping baby in Echo’s arms. Before Echo could say anything, Reeft was turning away from him and walking over to the orphanage officials, saying he was more than happy to stand as a reference for Echo. He smiled down at the baby in his arms and quietly murmured, “I think that means Reeft wants you to come home with us.” He then clutched the baby to him a little tighter and quietly murmured the Mandalorian adoption vow, “Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad.”

* * *

Over the next two days, the paperwork was finalised and Reeft’s statement of reference was added to the file. A reference that meant the orphanage were more than happy for him to adopt the baby girl. The only thing that remained was giving her a name. Also, it turned out, Echo needed a last name for the paperwork himself. The past two years, some of his brothers had given themselves last names, some had not. Jesse and Kix had both chosen not to chose last names, whereas Cody had taken Obi-Wan’s last name, officially becoming Cody Kenobi. So, Echo sat in the tent the orphanage was using, his soon-to-be-daughter in his arms as he sat and thought about a last name for themselves.

In his mind he ran through the different last names his brothers had given themselves, many taking inspiration from their companies or squad names. Then Echo smiled, thinking about his three batchmates who had not lived to see the end of the war and inspiration struck. But then he looked down at the baby girl in his arms and thought about her name, which was stressful. Names were important for his brothers, they were numbers when they were decanted, they chose their own names to make themselves feel more human and the thought of naming his daughter stressed him out. So, he asked the orphanage officials about the language spoken on Dalna, and asked if there were any names that meant something along the lines of ‘loved one’.

“Actually,” smiled the woman who he had first met and whose name he learned was Meg, turned to him and ran a gentle finger over the baby’s head. “Annileen can have two meanings. The oldest meaning is strong one, and the second meaning is loved child.”

“That’s perfect!” exclaimed Echo softly. After looking at the baby girl and kissing her on the forehead. He looked back up at Meg, who was sat in front of him, official documents for the adoption in front of her. “I’d like you to meet Annileen Domino.”

* * *

Two weeks later, their ship was docking in the Temple hanger. Echo had been kept busy on the journey home, Annileen did not sleep very well while they were in hyperspace, she wasn’t sleeping the night through anyway, but the sounds and sensations of a ship in hyperspace seemed to unsettle her. So, it was a relief to walk down the ramp of the ship, but as he did so he suddenly realised he had not told Fives about the new baby who was going to move in with them.

He stopped at the bottom of the ramp and just looked at the confused expression on Fives’s face as his older twin walked towards him. “Echo…is there a reason you’re holding a baby?”

Echo chuckled nervously. “Um…well funny story really. Fives…this is Annileen Domino. My adoptive daughter.”

Fives’s mouth just dropped open in shock, then he open and closed his mouth obviously trying to speak, but no sound came out. Fives shook himself and then “you adopted a baby?”

“I did,” replied Echo. He stepped closer to his twin so Fives could get a closer look at Annileen while her eyes darted around at all the new sights and sounds. “I had to think what last name I wanted to give her and myself for the paperwork which was hard, but I thought Domino was a good choice.”

“You gave yourself a last name?” exclaimed Fives, his voice pitching with surprise. “You gave yourself a last name and you didn’t _tell me_.”

“I’m…sorry?” responded Echo, confused that the only issue Fives had with Annileen’s surprise arrival was not her moving in with them, but being told about Echo and Annileen’s last name. Fives then waved him off, he then gently tugged Echo’s kit bag and the bag of baby supplies from his shoulder and began leading the way back to their quarters.

Fives then directed Echo to the sofa while he contacted the creche about having a cot brought up for Annileen. Echo face palmed himself, cursing himself for forgetting to sort out the baby supplies Annileen needed for their quarters. “Hey, don’t do that,” chided Fives softly, as he came to sit beside Echo, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “You’ve had a lot to deal with, I’m just happy I can do something to help.” Echo smiled as Fives cooed at Annileen causing her to gurgle at him. Fives then looked up and frowned slightly at what Echo presumed to be very dark circles under his eyes. Fives began to gently take Annileen from his arms murmuring to the baby, “come to me ik’aad, let your buir get some rest.” As he let Annileen go, Echo smiled, buir, he was a _buir_ , something he never thought would happen.

* * *

Two days later, Echo was feeding Annileen from a bottle, smiling down at his daughter as she guzzled down her midday feed. When he looked up at Fives’s sudden entrance, his older twin was grinning broadly as he pushed a datapad across the kitchen table towards Echo. He looked at the screen, his gaze swiftly reading the information, not sure what he was reading when he stopped at the name on the document. Fives Domino.

He looked up at his grinning twin a small smirk on his face. “Yes, I decided to add myself to your little family. Can’t let Annileen wonder why her ba'vodu does not have the same last name as her and her buir.” Stated Fives, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at Echo with a proud look on his face.

“Welcome to the family ori’vod,” teased Echo as he placed the empty bottle on the table and lifted Annileen up so he could burp her. He yawned and felt his eyes begin to burn slightly in exhaustion, Annileen woke up five times during the night. Her cot was placed in his room, not wanting to disturb Fives’s sleep as his twin was still working and Reeft had told him to take the next few months off from missions to spend time with Annileen.

Once Annileen had burped, Fives gently took her into his arms, and nodded towards Echo’s bedroom. “Go and get some sleep, I’ll look after the ik’aad.”

Echo got to his feet and nodded while he yawned again. He kissed Annileen on the head and said, “be good for your ba’vodu An’ika.” He then stumbled towards his bedroom, once his bed was within sight, he just face planted onto his bed, not even bothering to get under the blankets before he was slipping into sleep.

* * *

The next couple of months past similarly. Annileen was starting to sleep through the night better and her baby blue eyes changed, just as Echo thought they would, to a lovely hazel colour. While Annileen was sleeping better, she was still waking up early, leaving Echo still feeling tired most of the time. One morning he woke up slowly and smiled at the sunrays he could see poking through the curtains. But then when he realised a baby’s cry had not woken him up, he sat up in his bed, his heart beating hard in his panic. He looked to the foot of his bed and didn’t see Annileen in her cot, he flung back his blankets cursing himself. He had been an ARC Trooper, Rex had seen fit in the war to promote him to Corporal, and here he was letting someone enter his bedroom and _take_ his daughter.

He opened his bedroom and instantly his panic faded away, sat on the sofa with Annileen secure in his arms, was Fives. Echo breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the door way, the only thing holding him up right. Fives looked up at him in concern, then he looked between Annileen and Echo before realisation dawned. “Sorry vod’ika, but when I heard her and checked in your room, you were still out like a light and I just wanted you to get some decent sleep.”

Echo smiled as he walked over to the sofa and slumped down next to Fives. “Don’t apologise. I should have known you would be the only person I wouldn’t wake up around.” It was true. Fives, was the only person who didn’t trigger Echo’s soldier instincts and instantly wake him up from a deep sleep. He smiled when he held out his hand and Annileen grabbed onto his fingers, cooing in contentment.

“I have to admit, I was shocked when you brought An’ika home. But I am so glad you did. Our family feels complete now,” murmured Fives as he looked down at Annileen.

“I know what you mean,” agreed Echo as he leaned his weight against Fives’s side, leaning his head on his twin’s shoulder. “I just wish Cutup, Droidbait and Hevy could be here.”

“They are vod’ika, they are always with us. Especially now with the last name you picked for our family,” smiled Fives as he titled his head back so his head rested on top of Echo’s.

They sat together in silence and smiled as they looked at Annileen in Fives’s arms. Echo let his mind wander to the future and wondered what would become of their family. They already knew Annileen was not Force sensitive, but they knew she would be welcome to live in the Temple just as they were. It made Echo excited as he looked at the little bundle of life that had wormed her way into his family, and he knew she would make their lives so much better.

**Author's Note:**

> I made up the name meanings for Annileen’s name.
> 
> Ik’aad – baby  
> Ori’vod – older brother  
> Vod’ika – little brother  
> Buir – father  
> Ba’vodu – uncle  
> An’ika – term of endearment of Annileen’s name. Little Annileen.  
> Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad – adoption vow, lit. I know your name as my child.


End file.
